


bottled water every damn time

by Natallee_Kae



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Mitchell, Baseball Coach Gideon, Coffee Shop, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27697795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natallee_Kae/pseuds/Natallee_Kae
Summary: Mitchell suppressed a snort. This dude came to the shop every Saturday since the beginning of June to purchase only a single bottle of water. Every single time. Mitchell didn’t want to question the guy’s financial decisions, but surely he could have had the foresight of bringing his own water to wherever he got so god damn sweaty.
Relationships: Gideon/Jack Mitchell (Call of Duty)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	bottled water every damn time

It was a sticky, humid July 25th in Austin, Texas and Mitchell had just about fulfilled his patience quota for the summer and was ready to give into the heat. Unfortunately, his study and part-time job kept him too busy for such laziness.

That particular Saturday, as every other Saturday, Mitchell was positioned by the whirring coffee machine making the 50th Ice Coffee of the afternoon. He wasn’t surprised; in this heat, he barely got any orders for hot coffees. Of course, it was his job to serve whatever the customers ordered, but it was getting a little boring. He hardly got to use his fancy skills in foaming the milk and creating a cool pattern (that the customer hardly ever saw because they would order to-go.)

The coffee shop in question, named _Sentinal_ , was not the busiest of coffee shops, especially not in summer. Instead, it was considered something of a “hidden gem.” It was located on a side street off a major road, about a five minute walk from a baseball field and a small grassy reserve. It was quite a nice location, albeit a little desolate.

The whole suburb, in fact, adopted this atmosphere. It was quite small in area, and didn’t have too many major shopping streets. It had plenty of parks and reserves though. It was pleasant and peaceful.

By now, Mitchell’s white apron covering his button up was slightly splattered with coffee spills. His hair which had been tied up in a half-ponytail had begun to become slightly undone. Mitchell wiped down his work area and seeing as though there was no one waiting to order, he moved to carry some dirty equipment to the kitchen for Ilona to deal with. As he turned to move away, he heard the door open.

He rotated his head to see a familiar face.

A man with spiky black and blonde hair, scruffy facial hair, and beads of sweat pooling down his face entered the shop.

Mitchell suppressed a snort. This dude came to the shop _every_ Saturday since the beginning of June to purchase only a single bottle of water. Every single time. Mitchell didn’t want to question the guy’s financial decisions, but surely he could have the foresight of bringing his own water to wherever he got so god damn _sweaty_. And it wasn’t like Sentinal was the cheapest place to buy water. Any convenience store sold 6 packs of water bottles for the price of a single bottle from here. Really the reason they sold water was for the people who happened to be eating there. It was probably some requirement that all food vendors needed to fulfill, Mitchell assumed.

“Let me guess,” Mitchell spoke light-heartedly at the approaching man “Water?”

“Yep. Thanks.” the man replied in a rough British accent.

“Anything else?”

“No, thanks.”

Mitchell punched the order into the register and allowed the guy to scan his card. As he reached for the handle of the fridge, he faced the man again. “You know, we sell coffee here too, right?”

“Bit too damn hot for coffee, don’t you think?”

Mitchell hummed in reply and brought him his water. “True. You could get an ice coffee maybe.”

“I could.” The man stated. “But I’m really not big on coffee.”

“Oh. Fair enough. Well, have a nice day.” Mitchell turned back to his station to move on with his plans on cleaning up. The man cleared his throat.

“Not much business at this time.” The man noted, twisting the cap of the water and taking a drink.

“No. Just dudes buying water. It’s weird.”

The man snorted in reply. “Would it be weirder if I had ordered a coffee in _this_ weather?”

“Well it is a _coffee_ shop, so no.” Mitchell began to wipe his station despite it already being clean, hoping to appear busy in order to send a message to the man. It wasn’t that Mitchell didn’t like him, or that he found him annoying. It was more like… he liked him _too_ much. The dude was fucking hot as hell, and that accent was seriously something else.

“Do you have a name?” The man spoke. Mitchell stopped suddenly, before bashfully resuming his ‘cleaning’.

“Yeah. It’s Jack. Well, I actually go by my last name. Mitchell. You?”

“I’m Gideon. You work full time here?” Mitchell placed down his cleaning rag and leaned with his elbows on the counter.

“No, I only work on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I’m a student.”

“Funny that. I only show up here on Saturdays. I coach a local baseball team just down the street.”

So that explained it. The guy, Gideon, stood in the hot sun for hours, coaching for a baseball team. Mitchell couldn’t think of a worse hell than that. He only survived off the shop’s air conditioner. Actually, maybe that what Gideon was doing. Basking in the store’s air conditioner after being boiled alive by the heat.

“So we’re the closest place to the baseball field that sells water, I’m guessing?”

Gideon nodded. 

“And you couldn’t bring your own water?”

“it gets warm. Totally undrinkable.”

“Get a thermal bottle.”

Gideon paused to think.

“Fuck me. Guess I could.”

“Or… you could keep giving us business by buying our special bottled water. That’s an option.”

“I’m sure you could do without my business.”

“But you won’t get to see _me_ every Saturday” Mitchell jokingly retorted, surprised at his own confidence talking to basically a stranger. Gideon smirked and stepped closer to the counter.

“S’pose I wouldn’t then. What of it?”

“Hm... It would be a shame, wouldn’t it?” Mitchell had no idea where this was going.

“It would be. Guess I’ll just have to keep coming then, right?” Gideon leaned forward onto the counter until they were face to face.

“Right.” Mitchell’s face flushed red, and he turned his face away in embarrassment. Gideon turned back.

“Good. Have a nice day, Mitchell.” He waved and left the shop.


End file.
